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Fuel pump nozzle won't fit

23K views 33 replies 20 participants last post by  stephanie.gurule  
#1 ·
I stopped at a service station on the New Jersey turnpike this morning to fill up and the gas pump nozzle was way too large to fit in the truck. Has anyone else experienced this anywhere?

I ended up filling up in Staten Island where diesel is about 50 cents more expensive than jersey.

I know those service stations are geared towards big trucks, and I get that they don't want people to accidentally put diesel in a gas vehicle, but it is illegal to pump your own gas in Jersey so you would think people whose only job is to pump gas can be trusted to not put diesel in a gas vehicle.
 
#2 ·
Did GM put the wrong filler neck in your truck? Diesel is suppose to be a larger nozzle just for the reason you stated. If the neck is the wrong size I would assume that you would run into this problem in other locations.

Were you as a Semi Truck island? They do make a larger nozzle and hose for Semis to allow quicker filling of the much larger Semi tanks.
Usually auto and PU trucks are not allowed at those islands because the fuel there is sold without tax and you need an ICC number.
 
#4 ·
Were you as a Semi Truck island? They do make a larger nozzle and hose for Semis to allow quicker filling of the much larger Semi tanks.
Usually auto and PU trucks are not allowed at those islands because the fuel there is sold without tax and you need an ICC number.
That's my guess. I've filled up big rental trucks at the Semi pumps, it is a bigger nozzle and really fills fast. I didn't know they were restricted, not sure the rules are the same in Georgia as they are in New Jersey . . . anyway they didn't question me. I don't remember the price being any lower, though.
 
#5 ·
Sorry I keep saying gas out of habit, it is a diesel. It must have been a semi only pump, I specifically went to a service station that doesn't have a separate area for semis though. In New York I was able to fill up no problem witha diesel pump.

Gas and diesel prices are significantly cheaper in Jersey than the surrounding states due to lower taxes. That's why their department of transportation is broke.
 
#6 ·
I had the same problem here in the St Louis Metro area, I went to the station to fill up with Diesel and the nozzle would not fit. It was basically the same size as the filler neck, I managed to fill up, slowly this way without problem. Once I completed my fill up, I walked around to the other pumps they had for diesel, 4 in total and 3 of them had the very large nozzle and 1 had a smaller nozzle basically the same size as gas and this was not a typical truck stop where they have a lot of semi-trucks coming through.
 
#8 · (Edited)
The standard (for cars and pickups) nozzles for gas and diesel are different, the diesel nozzle is bigger so you don't accidentally put diesel in a gas tank. The diesel pump nozzles for the semis are larger still.

The neck opening for gas vehicles is smaller than diesel cars/pickups is smaller than semis.
 
#9 ·
There are 2 sizes of nozzles I've encountered in the past 10 years - 1 about the same size as the old "regular" gas nozzles when there was a mix of unleaded and regular at gas stations (gosh I feel old), and a huge nozzle made for very large trucks and tanks. My old jetta could use either but my '13 passat has a special gate in the filler neck that won't allow either a small unleaded nozzle fit nor a large semi nozzle fit. The Colorado opening is much larger than the Passat's but I have not tried a semi nozzle yet.
You quickly learn which pumps and stations you can easily use and the ones that keep their pumps clean.
 
#13 · (Edited)
There are 2 sizes of nozzles I've encountered in the past 10 years - 1 about the same size as the old "regular" gas nozzles when there was a mix of unleaded and regular at gas stations (gosh I feel old), and a huge nozzle made for very large trucks and tanks. My old jetta could use either but my '13 passat has a special gate in the filler neck that won't allow either a small unleaded nozzle fit nor a large semi nozzle fit. .
I've had the same experience. '04 Golf could take either and 11' Jetta Sportwagen had a "dummy gate" that would only accept the smaller (still bigger than gas) of the two easily. I say, "easily," because I could make it work in a pinch but it took some maneuvering. I don't have my baby duramax yet so I can't comment on it.

I had the Jetta for 3+ years before I realized the smaller gas size wouldn't work. A small local service station replaced some pumps and they installed the wrong nozzle head.

One would think by now all consumer based auto's would have an industry standard filler nozzle size for diesel.
There are only two sizes. One which is slightly bigger than a gas nozzle and this one I would call the standard for consumer vehicles. The other is a larger size that allows for a much higher flow rate for commercial size vehicles. The larger size isn't very common in most situations where a noncommercial customer would fill up. While a lot of service stations will only have diesel in a separate area from the gas, most will have at least one consumer size nozzle. From my experience it is usually the one closest to the building but not always. Rarely will you find a service station that advertises diesel that only has the commercial size nozzle. It's a big enough difference that I can easily tell just by driving near the pump without having to get out of my vehicle.

The problem with the larger ones that are meant for large commercial vehicles and saddle tanks is the flow rate. They pump out way too fast for the size of the system on a commuter vehicle. It will quickly become overwhelmed and spill out while pumping. You can only pull back on the lever/trigger about 1/4 of the way to avoid spilling when using one in a normal vehicle. That flow rate is obviously very helpful when filling up 100+ gallons.


I've never seen a saddle tank nozzle on a diesel pump that is integrated into a gas pump so that's always what I look for first at a new station. Second best is a separate diesel pump that is in the same bay/area of the gas pumps. At stations where the only diesel option is off in a different area, if there are multiple pumps they usually have one small size and the rest are saddle tank size.
 
#10 ·
I have experienced this with my diesel Jetta. The Jetta has a "don't put gas in me, Idiot!" safety mechanism in it that prevents all sizes of nozzles except for diesel specific nozzles. I have encountered a gas sized nozzle but with the green handle, the medium size nozzle with green handle (that is the only size that fits in my Jetta), and then the, what I assume is the Semi size, the really large nozzle. I just know which stations in my area have the correct nozzles and that is where I stop. What would really screw me is on a long trip through BFE and the only station has the wrong size! The safety switch on the tank will not open and I will not be able to put fuel in!

Despite these minor issues, I am looking to bail on the diesel Jetta and move into a diesel Canyon SLE All Terrain!
 
#17 ·
My wife one time was in a hurry and trying to fill up and get to the airport and stopped for diesel with our 2013 Jetta Sportwagen. The nozzle wouldn't go into the fill port. The attendant noted that the VW's from the local dealer were all defective. The problem was they had the wrong nozzle on their diesel pump.
I just took delivery on a Duramax Canyon and we are looking to loose the VW. Continue waiting for VW to determine what they are going to do with their EPA mess as the resale of the affected cars has been hammered. Just keeps getting delayed.
 
#14 ·
Well darn, I was thinking of crafting up a PSA if the Canyon/Colorado had some odd-ball sized filler nozzle.

One would think by now all consumer based auto's would have an industry standard filler nozzle size for diesel.
That would be helpful.
One reason VW went the way they did with their "dummy gate" was due to high pressure fuel pump failures if filled with gasoline.

I've tried an adapter like that for "emergencies", but if the filler nozzle is not perfectly round (oval from being abused or ran over) it either will not fit or leaks.
 
#12 ·
Well darn, I was thinking of crafting up a PSA if the Canyon/Colorado had some odd-ball sized filler nozzle.

One would think by now all consumer based auto's would have an industry standard filler nozzle size for diesel.
 
#18 ·
I have two Jetta's


1980 MK1 Coupe / Mexico Beige
AHU TDI /6 speed o2j/ rover 300 fuel pump with Giles mod


2010 mkv tdi cup Edition
Malone tune 3.5 mod, no smog all rawtek stuff
Euro CR170 Turbo


there both vey rare
 
#23 · (Edited)
That's ridiculous! Why the heck not? Never heard of such. What do they think you're going to do, Spew gas all over and light it on fire?
 
#24 ·
Yeah New Jersey has some crazy rules. I think the gas pumping thing is a old law originally enacted for safety concerns and was pretty common in many states. Where as other states have repealed these laws over time NJ never did. Now gas pumping has become big business in NJ (because the state has much lower fuel prices than all it's neighbors,) and I think people are afraid to repeal the law because it would immediately destroy thousands of jobs over night.
 
#26 ·
The few times I've been to Oregon I'm pretty sure they installed new gas.
Most of the time service personnel aren't fully qualified, as I'm lead to believe.

I remember seeing the person connect an apparatus to my vehicle. I did not see exactly where it connected, but the flexible hose-like thing stayed stuck to my vehicle automatically.
Several minutes later I heard the built in click sound that is used to alert the attendant to come ask for money.

I do not remember seeing any nicks, scratches or dings on my truck. They didn't ask me unusual questions like how long as it been since my last gas change or if I wanted to buy any extra gas protection as a warranty.

I got back on the road and the orange needle thing on my dash display was on the F part of the dial. My truck never stalled out.
So I guess I got lucky and found the only skilled gas pumper peoples.


As for the earlier question of 'why not' allow drivers to fill up....I do not know that answer.
 
#27 ·
I live in Oregon. My understanding of the law was to prevent drivers from pulling away with the nozzle still on the vehicle. In reality it has caused more problems than self service. It's also promoted by smaller stations who are trying to compete with the bigger outlets. I personally have mixed feelings about the law. It's faster to do self service but it's really nice when the weather is terrible to stay in the car and let the attendant do the fill up. It's definitely not a great job but I've had zero problems caused by attendants in 39 years of living in the state. I don't see a big impact on price. Certainly much cheaper than when I cross the border into California.
 
#29 ·
A full service station in Maine filled my cousins 2500 Cummins with gasoline and she didn't notice. She drove almost 200 miles back to MA like that. I think she had a half tank before the fillup so it was somewhat diluted and amazingly did not damage the engine.
 
#32 ·
Hello, new here but figured I would tell you what I have found here in the mid west.

I have found 3 sizes of nozzles here. The small ones as folks have noticed.

The large ones that are normally in the truck stop islands, that will fit in my colorado.

And then there are the large ones, with a small rim on the front of the nozzle that makes it slightly bigger. That wont fit in my Colorado, but will fit in my 6.6 2005 dmax. I was told that the rim helped keep the nozzle in when max fuel flow was used for the semi's tank fill. Chevy should have made the fill hole slightly larger to accommodate this.